Hot and cold characterizes my reaction to The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss…I’ll hit the downside first, but there’s lots to appreciate here too. I found this author’s voice extremely annoying and cocky, and I don’t think there are many people manic enough to completely do what he says he did in terms of simplifying his life, cutting out unnecessary distractions, and putting his business on autopilot. He comes across as someone who would do whatever it took to get what he wanted, to hell with what others think. Okay fine…I don’t have to like his attitude to learn from him.

What I found extremely valuable were tips on how to manage information overload, unrealistic demands and expectations, and the tyranny of “shoulds.” His two pages on how to increase your reading speed were worth the price of the book, and I have absolutely started using it effectively. I’m also going to go to his website to see what he says about speed-learning a foreign language. He has some interesting insights on outsourcing and leveraging your own effort: work smarter, not harder.

Also valuable, I felt, were his travel tips and very specific resources (books, websites) for getting great travel deals, spending extended periods of time in other countries, and much more.

If you really do have wanderlust and are young and energetic enough to want to break free and spend months at a time in other countries, there is valuable information here. Just be prepared to pick and choose what might be helpful to you.

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